Just to clarify, the Very Big Bank wasn’t offering the absolute lowest rock-bottom rate, but I’d rather pay a little bit more for a lower chance of being screwed. In this case I sense that I’d be paying a little bit more for an average or above-average chance of being screwed, so I think it’s time to look elsewhere 🙂

Perhaps I’d be better off going with a reputable mortgage broker than I would trying to find the best direct lender. But as I’ve learned over and over again, reputation really doesn’t mean that much.

As a longtime buyer of late-model used cars, I’ve also learned that if you catch someone trying to screw you, it’s not worth negotiating because they’ll just try twice as hard to screw you at another stage of the deal. In the case of used car salespeople, I don’t think it’s about money … it’s about the feeling of power, the gratification of making someone agree to a disadvantageous deal. Granted the Very Big Bank is a huge organization, but at some level it’s run by people.